The present invention relates to a new and improved apparatus for the conveying of substantially flat products, especially printed products. Furthermore, this invention relates to a gripper arrangement comprising individually controllable grippers or gripper elements for engaging substantially flat products, especially printed products.
Generally speaking, the conveying apparatus of the present development is of the type comprising an infeed device or conveyor for defining a conveying or conveyor plane for the products. This infeed device serves for the infeed or delivery of the products in an imbricated formation in which in each case a pair of two superimposed products bear in imbricated or shingled formation upon a pair of trailing or upstream products. The infeed device feeds the products to a product take-over region. There is also provided a conveyor device which comprises, viewed in a predetermined conveying direction, successively or tandemly arranged individually controllable grippers or gripper elements for engaging the infed products at the product take-over region at the region of the leading product edges.
According to a further construction of conveying apparatus for substantially flat products, such comprises an infeed device or conveyor which defines a conveying plane for the products and serves to infeed the products in an imbricated formation. In such imbricated product formation each product bears upon the next following or trailing product. The infeed device delivers the products to a product take-over region. There is also provided a conveyor or conveying device which, viewed in a predetermined conveying direction, comprises individually controllable grippers arranged in succession. These individually controllable grippers are provided with gripper or clamp jaws or jaw members for engaging in each instance one of the infed products at the product take-over region and specifically at the region of the leading product edge. The conveying direction of the conveyor device extends transverse to the conveying plane and also extends upwardly from the underside or lower face of the products.
The invention also concerns a gripper arrangement comprising a plurality of individually controllable grippers displaceable in a predetermined product conveying direction. Each of these individually controllable grippers serve to engage substantially flat products infed in a direction extending transversely to the predetermined conveying direction. Each of such individually controllable grippers engage a related product at the leading edge thereof. Moreover each of the individually controllable grippers comprises a gripper body and gripper jaws arranged at the gripper body. At least one closure spring retains the gripper jaws in a closed position and these gripper jaws bear against one another at the region of the free ends of the gripper jaws in the closed position of each individually controllable gripper. Mounting means mount at least one gripper jaw of each gripper at the associated gripper body about an axis extending transversely to the predetermined conveying direction.
A product conveying apparatus of the aforementioned type is known from Swiss Patent No. 637,091 and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,559, granted June 8, 1982. In the imbricated formation which is infed by an infeed device to a conveyor device in each case a pair of two superimposed products bears in imbricated or shingled formation upon a pair of trailing products. The conveyor device comprises a deflection wheel arranged above the infeed device and about which there is guided a traction element. Grippers or gripper elements are provided in tandem or successive arrangement at the traction element in the product conveying direction. Each gripper or gripper element comprises an upper stationary clamp jaw and a lower movable clamp jaw. The grippers brought from above at the imbricated formation engage in each instance a pair of superimposed products at the region of their leading edges by means of the clamp jaws and convey away the products. The conveying direction of the outfeed device or conveyor is essentially parallel at the product take-over region to the conveying direction of the infeed
Additionally there is known an apparatus for conveying substantially flat products from Swiss Patent No. 630,583 and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,894, granted Mar. 23, 1982. In the imbricated formation which is delivered by means of an infeed device to a conveyor device each printed product bears upon the next following product. The infeed device transports the products essentially in horizontal direction, whereas the conveying direction of the conveyor device extends from the bottom towards the top. The conveyor device possesses individually controllable grippers arranged at a traction element. At the product take-over region these grippers engage the products infed by the infeed device at their leading product edges and raise such upwardly away from the imbricated formation. Thus, the imbricated product formation is peeled away. In the event that with this known apparatus the conveying velocity of the conveyor device is half as great as the infeed velocity of the infeed device, then in each instance two products in superimposed relationship come into engagement with a gripper, so that in each case two superimposed products can be conjointly raised. With this known apparatus at the infed or delivered imbricated formations, in which in each case an individual product bears upon the next following or trailing product, each individual product is engaged by a gripper and peeled off of the imbricated formation or in each instance two products are displaced upon one another such that each gripper engages two superimposed products and feeds such away.